Today I've been reading the book "No Self, No Problem" and although it is by a Nyingmapa teacher of the Tibetan tradition, I recommend it to every Buddhist who feel attracted by the teachings of the Zen tradition.

"If we want to realize the truth, the first thing to remember is that we don’t have to do anything. No sacred dances. No secret mantras. No religious conversion. We just sit quietly wherever we find ourselves and simply don’t do anything. This is most important. Don’t do anything. We look directly and see what is true in that moment without labeling or judging anything. Now we see the truth which is beyond our fantasies. We also see that our mind is a conglomeration of mental events, fleeting and insubstantial. At that moment it’s impossible to become attached to any personal story line. This is a perfect moment. It lacks nothing. That recognition brings about a sense of inexhaustible joy. We might feel like we want to get up and dance wildly. If so, do it and call it sacred dance."(Anam Thubten: No Self, No Problem, p. 84-85)

One day Yaoshan was sitting on a stone. Shitou asked what he was doing. Yaoshan said he wasn't doing anything. Shitou said, "You're just sitting here?" Yaoshan said, "Just sitting doing nothing is doing something." Shitou asked, "What exactly do you mean by 'doing nothing?" Yaoshan said, "If you asked all the sages, they wouldnt be able to tell you." Then Shitou recited a poem:

A person doesn't know how it works,Just goes along with it naturally.All the sages in history can't explain it,And ordinary people don't understand it either.

(Soto Zen Ancestors in China, p. 60)

One day after Yaoshan had sat down, a monk came and asked, "What are you thinking about here by yourself?" "I'm thinking about not-thinking." "How do you think about not-thinking?" "By not thinking."(p. 63)

"There is no such thing as the real mind. Ridding yourself of delusion: that's the real mind."(Sheng-yen: Getting the Buddha Mind, p 73)

Astus wrote:Today I've been reading the book "No Self, No Problem" and although it is by a Nyingmapa teacher of the Tibetan tradition, I recommend it to every Buddhist who feel attracted by the teachings of the Zen tradition.

"If we want to realize the truth, the first thing to remember is that we don’t have to do anything. No sacred dances. No secret mantras. No religious conversion. We just sit quietly wherever we find ourselves and simply don’t do anything. This is most important. Don’t do anything. We look directly and see what is true in that moment without labeling or judging anything. Now we see the truth which is beyond our fantasies. We also see that our mind is a conglomeration of mental events, fleeting and insubstantial. At that moment it’s impossible to become attached to any personal story line. This is a perfect moment. It lacks nothing. That recognition brings about a sense of inexhaustible joy. We might feel like we want to get up and dance wildly. If so, do it and call it sacred dance."(Anam Thubten: No Self, No Problem, p. 84-85)

One day Yaoshan was sitting on a stone. Shitou asked what he was doing. Yaoshan said he wasn't doing anything. Shitou said, "You're just sitting here?" Yaoshan said, "Just sitting doing nothing is doing something." Shitou asked, "What exactly do you mean by 'doing nothing?" Yaoshan said, "If you asked all the sages, they wouldnt be able to tell you." Then Shitou recited a poem:

A person doesn't know how it works,Just goes along with it naturally.All the sages in history can't explain it,And ordinary people don't understand it either.

(Soto Zen Ancestors in China, p. 60)

One day after Yaoshan had sat down, a monk came and asked, "What are you thinking about here by yourself?" "I'm thinking about not-thinking." "How do you think about not-thinking?" "By not thinking."(p. 63)

Very good.

I think it's helpful to understand the basic teachings of Buddhism first. He is speaking from an experience of veteran practitioner I assume, while the rest of us seem to be in the beginner category and don't even know what to expect from Buddhism.

NAMO AMITABHANAM MO A DI DA PHAT (VIETNAMESE)NAMO AMITUOFO (CHINESE)Linjii―Listen! Those of you who devote yourselves to the Dharma must not be afraid of losing your bodies and your lives―

"The awakening has nothing to do with our background. It has nothing to do with whether we have been meditating for a long time or not. It has nothing to do with meeting impressive teachers or gurus. It is simply dependent on whether or not we are open to it."(No Self, No Problem, p. 4)

"In the same way, when we pay attention to our breath, body sensations, and to the awareness that arises, then all the illusions, suffering, confusion, sorrow, and personal issues, all of this begins to dissipate. We see that all of these experiences are born of delusion. This is the sense of “I.” “I am real. I am truly existent.” Everything is gone except this “I,” this sense of self. Then, when we continue meditating, the sense of self also goes away. When we just keep meditating, when we just remain in that present awareness and observe, then the self dissolves too. When the self dissolves there is just pure awareness. When the self completely collapses, there is this inexpressible, simple yet profound and ecstatic, compassionate awareness. Nobody is there. “I” is completely nonexistent in that place. There is no separation between samsara, bad circumstances, and nirvana, good circumstances, and there is nobody pursuing the path or chasing after enlightenment. In that moment we realize the essence of the Buddha’s teaching."(p. 41)

"Suddenly, when we stop producing concepts and ideas, when we stop feeding that illusory reality, when we stop associating with ego, it is very simple. It is simple to stop associating with ego. However there are no twelve step programs in transcendent wisdom. There is only the one-step program and that is to not associate with the ego. The moment we stop associating with ego it just immediately ceases right there."(p. 128)

"There is no such thing as the real mind. Ridding yourself of delusion: that's the real mind."(Sheng-yen: Getting the Buddha Mind, p 73)

Astus wrote:"The awakening has nothing to do with our background. It has nothing to do with whether we have been meditating for a long time or not. It has nothing to do with meeting impressive teachers or gurus. It is simply dependent on whether or not we are open to it."(No Self, No Problem, p. 4)

"In the same way, when we pay attention to our breath, body sensations, and to the awareness that arises, then all the illusions, suffering, confusion, sorrow, and personal issues, all of this begins to dissipate. We see that all of these experiences are born of delusion. This is the sense of “I.” “I am real. I am truly existent.” Everything is gone except this “I,” this sense of self. Then, when we continue meditating, the sense of self also goes away. When we just keep meditating, when we just remain in that present awareness and observe, then the self dissolves too. When the self dissolves there is just pure awareness. When the self completely collapses, there is this inexpressible, simple yet profound and ecstatic, compassionate awareness. Nobody is there. “I” is completely nonexistent in that place. There is no separation between samsara, bad circumstances, and nirvana, good circumstances, and there is nobody pursuing the path or chasing after enlightenment. In that moment we realize the essence of the Buddha’s teaching."(p. 41)

"Suddenly, when we stop producing concepts and ideas, when we stop feeding that illusory reality, when we stop associating with ego, it is very simple. It is simple to stop associating with ego. However there are no twelve step programs in transcendent wisdom. There is only the one-step program and that is to not associate with the ego. The moment we stop associating with ego it just immediately ceases right there."(p. 128)

Astus wrote:"The awakening has nothing to do with our background. It has nothing to do with whether we have been meditating for a long time or not. It has nothing to do with meeting impressive teachers or gurus. It is simply dependent on whether or not we are open to it."(No Self, No Problem, p. 4)

"In the same way, when we pay attention to our breath, body sensations, and to the awareness that arises, then all the illusions, suffering, confusion, sorrow, and personal issues, all of this begins to dissipate. We see that all of these experiences are born of delusion. This is the sense of “I.” “I am real. I am truly existent.” Everything is gone except this “I,” this sense of self. Then, when we continue meditating, the sense of self also goes away. When we just keep meditating, when we just remain in that present awareness and observe, then the self dissolves too. When the self dissolves there is just pure awareness. When the self completely collapses, there is this inexpressible, simple yet profound and ecstatic, compassionate awareness. Nobody is there. “I” is completely nonexistent in that place. There is no separation between samsara, bad circumstances, and nirvana, good circumstances, and there is nobody pursuing the path or chasing after enlightenment. In that moment we realize the essence of the Buddha’s teaching."(p. 41)

"Suddenly, when we stop producing concepts and ideas, when we stop feeding that illusory reality, when we stop associating with ego, it is very simple. It is simple to stop associating with ego. However there are no twelve step programs in transcendent wisdom. There is only the one-step program and that is to not associate with the ego. The moment we stop associating with ego it just immediately ceases right there."(p. 128)

"Dogma seems to be one of the biggest obstacles in many spiritual traditions. It is often disguised as the wisdom of an infallible lineage, while sometimes it is simply ego’s creation for the purpose of postponing the true realization of oneness. As long as such spiritual teachings are based on dogma, they are dead wisdom, full of superstition. ... What is transcendent wisdom? Let’s inquire into that. Actually you can call it by many names, whatever name you prefer. It is a direct momentary process of dissolving all illusion right now, in this very moment. It is dissolving the illusion of pain, sorrow, and hatred. It is dissolving the illusion of self. There is a fire of awareness ignited in our consciousness which ruthlessly burns everything, without any exception. Sometimes it burns everything in a single moment and sometimes it burns one illusion after another. That burning process is transcendent wisdom. You can call it “transcendent wisdom” or you don’t have to call it anything. It is really awareness, not conceptualization. It is momentary. It is direct experience. It is a realization of losing everything, losing all of our cherished ideas and concepts, sometimes even without any resistance. It is a beautiful way of losing everything, not a painful way."(No Self, No Problem, p. 125-126)

"In the Son approach, all these true teachings deriving from the faith and understanding of the complete and sudden school which are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges are called dead words because they induce people to create the obstacle of understanding. Nevertheless, with complete descriptions which accord with the nature they do instruct beginning students who are not yet able to investigate the live word of the shortcut approach, and they help to ensure that they have nonretrogressive faith and understanding. But if there is a person of superior faculties-one fit for the secret transmission who abandons all stereotyping as soon as he hears the tasteless word of the shortcut approach-that person does not stagnate in the defects of knowledge and conceptual understanding but, rather, comes to know his abiding place. This is called "to hear once, have a thousand awakenings, and attain great dharanis.""(Collected Works of Chinul, p. 240)

"There is no such thing as the real mind. Ridding yourself of delusion: that's the real mind."(Sheng-yen: Getting the Buddha Mind, p 73)